Agriculture
The Spiritual Sound
THE FLENSER
It’s always a bold move for musicians to invent a new name for a genre and claim themselves as its only constituents, so Agriculture naturally drew some skepticism when they sprouted up in LA in 2021 and categorized their music as “ecstatic black metal.” Metal purists in particular griped about the term; they were still struggling to fathom the canonization of Deafheaven, and to accept the term “blackgaze” as part of their orthodoxy. But then came Agriculture’s self-titled 2023 debut, a massively ambitious record that the band lived up to with songwriting and musicianship so top-tier that even the most begrudging of subgenre nitpickers—not to mention tourists to the realm of metal, echoing the crossover appeal of Deafheaven—bent the knee to the young four-piece.
And Agriculture’s follow-up record The Spiritual Sound is somehow just as stunning and spectacular. To describe what the band’s sophomore record sounds like is as difficult as trying to convey what one went through during a near-death experience. There was a blinding white light, then complete darkness. It seemed like there was some kind of a presence, but it’s impossible to be certain. I’m pretty sure my childhood golden retriever ran over to me and licked my face—but it could’ve been a demon in disguise. With the histrionics of Horrendous, the chug-a-lugging of Lamb of God, the blistering blasphemy of Portrayal of Guilt—and, yes, the sensitive and simmering quiet passages of Deafheaven—Agriculture have produced a mutant crop that can’t be replicated, that is too resplendent to discard, that must be studied and preserved for years to come like the Terminator arm stored in triple-security lockdown at Skynet.
Because, while none of us have witnessed anything like this before—a bold statement for sure, but one that perfectly describes each of the 10 songs on this most righteous of records—it could be a glimpse into the future, and we’ll need to figure out what codes the people who built it cracked so we can befriend and tame this monstrous creation before it wipes out all of humanity. After all, with music this advanced, the only legitimate response we can have is to listen to The Spiritual Sound in complete and utter awe.
